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Greg, I have the dreaded Microsoft word and I'd love to see what you've done. Do, please send it to me! Scotto -----Original Message----- From: Greg Bontrager [mailto:GregBont@hidden.email] Sent: Monday, August 16, 2004 2:59 PM To: romconlang@yahoogroups.com Subject: [romconlang] Anyone interested in critiquing my conlang? Let me just begin by saying that I am amazed at how deep many RomConLang members delve into their craft. I am a foreign language nut (I speak Spanish and French and am now teaching myself Italian) and am very schooled in parts-of-speech terminology and very basic/introductory linguistic terminology (i.e. phonetics, syntax, inflections). I also have an amateur yet avid interest in etymology and something I call comparative linguistics. Compared to most eighteen-year-olds, I believe I am significantly more advanced when it comes to foreign language studies and linguistics. But you guys really give me a run for my money! These latest discussions about a Romance family tree and the reason for the deus --> dios transformation could not have been more up my alley! Most of you are so knowledgeable and skilled at deductive reasoning! Okay, that having been said, let me try to get to the point of this message. On top of being a foreign language nut, I am also an aspiring writer. These two hobbies came together quite nicely when I began developing the idea for an epic fantasy in which warlocks/witches use their own language to cast spells. I thought it would be very interesting if this language was a Romance language. Thus was born the Brujeric language. Brujeric is, I think, somewhat different among romconlangs in that it is not descended directly from Latin at all. Instead it is a roughly equal blend of two of Latin's natural descendants (French and Spanish). This is largely because I may be the only member of this group who, while he knows three Latin-descendant languages, does not know a word of Latin itself. A basic overview of Brujeric: Almost all of its phonetics is borrowed from Spanish, with a few distinctions thrown in that will hopefully give the language a unique."flavor," if you will. Grammar is about evenly split between Spanish and French. Most of Brujeric vocabulary is French derived, usually adapted to fit the very Iberian phonetic system (For example, "much/many" in Brujeric is "bocupo/bocupos" from French "beaucoup."). Wherever I can I also use my combined knowledge of French and Spanish as well as English derivations to surmise an "estimation" of what the original Latin word was and then use some derivation of that estimation in Brujeric. I currently have 12 pages of linguistic information and basic vocabulary. I have, to date, determined such things as pronunciation, formal titles (i.e. Mr., Mrs., etc.), all cases of pronouns, familial terms, common names, interrogative words (i.e. how, when, where, when, why), regular verb conjugation (in the indicative mood), and the inflected forms of each of the five "primary irregular verbs" (what I call the first five verbs most of us learn in a foreign language class): estir (to be), avir (to have), alir (to go), faicer (to do; to make), and dir (to say; to tell). I will probably very soon be contemplating the subjunctive tenses. I am quite proud of the work I've done so far, but I also crave feedback. I am not quite ready to launch a website (largely because I'm not sure if my computer has the proper software), so I'm offering to e-mail the 12 page outline of Brujeric (in Microsoft Word format) to anyone who's interested in taking a look at it, analyzing it, and/or offering their honest opinion or suggestions (Be not shy. I take criticism like a saint.) Someone who has at least some knowledge of French and/or Spanish would be most qualified, but anyone in this group is welcome to take a look. In turn, your feedback will be much appreciated. Thanks, Greg [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To unsubscribe, send an email to: romconlang-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Yahoo! Groups Links a.. To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romconlang/ b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: romconlang-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]